Doctor's Orders

10. Previous Conditions

The days flew by and we were already halfway through July. I was trying to balance my little bits of free time between making new friends and staying connected to the old ones. Meg and Aaliyah were planning to come and visit in a few weeks. I was also planning to head to Milwaukee for a country music festival in September, as long as I wasn't scheduled to work.  I thought about inviting Bridget or Kane, but neither of them liked country music; in fact, I was having a hard time finding anyone in Chicago who shared my passion for the twangy sounds of the steel guitar. 

Dr. Styles often gave me a ride home if we worked the same shift. It was a nice opportunity to share small talk and get to know him better. Still, I knew he was in a relationship. In fact, she had come by the hospital a few more times, but it seemed all right to simply ride with him to our shared home.

I found out that he grew up in Chicago, the "Gold Coast" to be exact, which was the wealthiest area of Chicago, situated between Old Town and Lake Michigan. His apartment was only a few minutes from his parents' place, he'd told me once. I could only imagine the kind of luxury his parents might have if he was living in a penthouse at 35. Maybe a historic old brownstone or a colonial on the river. 

I was surprised that, in spite of his charm, sophistication, and upbringing, he said he hadn't traveled much. His parents took him to a few exotic locations when he and his sister were growing up, but they weren't jet-setters, by any means.

In turn, I shared with him that my baby sister, Chloe had been a complete surprise to my parents five years ago. In fact, my mom had given me an envelope on my 20th birthday, on the front of which was scrawled, To My Big Sister. The card had a picture of a newborn baby on the outside, with no caption. Inside, all it said, was I can't wait to meet you. ETA March 2011.

Of course, I hadn't believed my parents at first. It took them hours, literally, to convince me that it wasn't a joke. Finally, my mom pulled out an early ultrasound shot and I felt like the breath was knocked from my lungs. I remember feeling something between disgust, knowing my parents had made a baby, and absolute thrill that I would have a little sister after all this time. It was sad that I had already left home and started my own life, but I tried to spend as much time with Chloe as possible. My experience of Chloe had been a thrill from the day she was  born. Now she was preparing for kindergarten. What an experience for my parents, to raise one child and then to start over completely.

Conversations with Dr. Styles never got much more personal than that, but it was nice to chat with him anyway.

On an afternoon off, Bridget and I went shopping and then we splurged and went to a nice restaurant for dinner. It was nice to have money to spend on myself once in a while, but I also had an aggressive savings plan so that I wouldn't be living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of my life. Bridget had asked me to go to a movie, but I was tiring out, so I took a rain check and got back to my place around 8:00.

I was jiggling my key in the door when I felt someone's presence behind me. I glanced back and there he was.

I knew it. I knew he'd find me.